Principles, Perils, and Purposes of Personalized Learning

Brief Abstract

In this session, we will share tips and evidenced-based, student-centered approaches to creating effective discussions and assignments in university online and blended classroom settings that attend to personalized learning principles and avoid possible pitfalls. The focus is on technology integration, at-risk learners, and meeting individual and collective student needs.

Extended Abstract

In this session, we will share tips and evidenced-based approaches for creating effective discussions and assignments in university online and blended classroom settings that attend to personalized learning principles while avoiding possible pitfalls. The focus is on technology integration, at-risk learners, and meeting individual and collective student needs. It is important to engage all students, especially at-risk learners, and help them persist in higher education. A key component of personalized learning, which may be challenging in shorter course terms, is to attend to learners’ abilities, interests, preferences, dreams, goals, socioemotional attributes, and other characteristics.

Students may be more motivated and engaged when their unique and collective attributes are addressed through more choices in assignment formats, varying roles in discussions, and options to use different digital tools. First, assignments in online courses should be related to students’ current or future professional roles. Personalization starts with providing a variety of readings and materials for students to choose from to prepare them for assignments and activities and discussions that prompt them to identify and reflect upon their personal and professional goals and interests. Interest inventories and other tools may help. Once students articulate their preferences and dreams, they will better navigate choice-making for readings and assignments. Next, assignments should offer choices such as completing a traditional paper, podcast, brochure, or multimedia presentation. Choice in format allows students in an inclusive way to leverage their own strengths and abilities and progress in areas of weaknesses. Using animation, interactive posters, and brochures as choices for assignments accomplishes these things while also helping with developing digital tool familiarity and application. Assignments should be dynamic and so should course discussions. Approaches for role-taking in discussion forums will be presented to include students choosing to express learning of concepts through the arts and  via other ways. Finally, creating open-ended, project-based assignments that relate to students’ lives allows them to participate at their own levels (i.e.,some may use more advanced tools and apply concepts in more sophisticated ways while others with emerging skills and knowledge successfully complete assignments in slightly less sophisticated or advanced ways). As students explore learning through more interesting pathways successfully, their self-esteem and self-efficacy will likely increase. Allowing such varied avenues for course work permits students who do not typically succeed with more traditional assignments to thrive and persist.

This session will present examples of assignments, discussion activities, and digital tools to use in online courses as well as basic literature-based, professional organization, and government frameworks to guide their design. Participants will be given opportunities to apply personalized learning in new ways to their own instructional settings.